In the winter (February 2008) newsletter of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors, I wrote of the prospect of "a full-on economic depression, a possibility that is starting to loom on the US horizon (at least according to George Soros and Robert Reich)." What can I say--I used to work at a mutual fund--


and sometimes I read the tea-leaves aright. Higher education, including one's own institution, has as usual been taken by surprise. And, again as usual, it is unlikely the administrative budget (70%, at my place) will take the whole, or even an appropriately proportional, hit.

Fellow academics who may be a tad uncertain of where to turn for good coverage of the present situation might want to bookmark "Calculated Risk."

Those who might like an introductory, painless, and reassuring tutorial on how to get rich slowly while investing on a modest income may want to make the acquaintance of The Wealthy Barber (a.k.a. David Chilton), a blast from the '90s financial past whose book and PBS videos remain entertaining and wise classics. A short video clip of a recent appearance is here; a review of the book that seems to sum it up well is here. The videos are still buyable off Amazon.com, at least in VHS and audio- as well as paper books.

Don't be fooled by Chilton's folksy humor; he got the highest score ever on the Canadian Securities Course exam (equivalent to the US NASDAQ Series 7). His videos epitomize the concept of wearing your learning lightly; we should all give lectures as good.

Randy Pausch has passed  on. "Stop all the clocks; cut off the telephone . . ."

His book is here.

Last year, we had a "discussion" about whether it was kosher to search candidate's Web-personae for the purpose of finding something "bad," which was of course never defined. Some of us said this is incorrect and unprofessional, and should not be done.

As is all too usual, some of us were right. At least as far as MLA is concerned--(quoting from my Facebook page here):

The Modern Language Association (MLA) Committee on Academic Freedom, Professional Rights, and Responsibilities has just responded to a query I sent regarding college policies toward Googling or Facebooking prospective faculty candidates as a screening practice.

"You will be happy to know that in answer to your concern regarding background checks through Googling Facebook and other Web sites, the committee at its spring meeting decided to add a new category to its 'Dos and Don'ts for Interviewers.' This new entry will suggest that candidates should only be judged on professional, scholarly, and intellectual criteria."

(--Of course, their statement also says that you probably shouldn't post really dumb stuff on public websites either. But the principle is now established even so.)

You may all applaud at your convenience. And if you want that pebble--get used to the technical terms "pwn3d" and "n00b." 

I couldn't resist:

He is still hanging in there, and even finished a book (as well as scoring a speaking part in the next Star Trek movie)--
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html

Firstly, thanks to the candidates we met at MLA. The upside of the job market, at least if you are an interviewer, is the consistent high quality of the people you see for most of the specialties we would be hiring in modern languages, and this search is no exception. While the MLA experience tends to be non-optimal as groused about below by myself and others, that part of it does give you confidence and satisfaction that at least, our profession is doing something right.

Today's theme, though, is unsolicited advice (and by the way, I am full of it, and happy to share at any time). A sabbatical, assuming you are on reduced pay and traveling, is likely to be a financial disaster, but the upside is that nearly all associated costs are deductible. The reason is that one was granted the non-teaching partly-paid leave for the purpose of working on the research project that one applied for leave to do; accordingly, you are being paid to do that, and uncompensated costs incurred along the way are deductible work expenses, if properly documented. That means travel, food, laundry, housing--pretty much everything that is incurred in the course of getting to and living in the locations where you work on it. And, the living costs can be per diem'd rather than itemized, so long as the receipts to back that up are on hand.

I bring this up simply because not many faculty seem to understand this, and their tax people can't be blamed (much), since this is a unique wrinkle that doesn't come up in the world outside academe, except for freelancers and self-employed perhaps (and even in our world--in my case--has only now come up for the first time in a decade-plus of professoring, since sabbaticals don't happen every day).

While you can, and should, take my word for it on this and indeed all things, you don't have to. Though there is a baffling shortage of publication about sabbaticals--one topic that has huge pan-disciplinary professional self-interest--this angle is discussed in Ralston, Jayne and Tony, The Sabbatical Book (Buffalo: Roylott Press, 1987), and also to some extent in tax guides tailored for educators. And on a more up-to-date note, my own reliable tax person has validated this philosophy also.

Since I used to work in the financial industry, I of course must pop off the usual disclaimer that I am not a licensed financial or tax advisor, and you should check with someone with professional credentials before taking anyone else's word for anything. (For a more entertaining financial disclaimer covering any and all liabilities, see the parody of a high-tech business plan presented in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon).

A side note: if traveling extensively, don't forget the savings to be had by turning off electricity hogs like your refrigerator, and by cancelling subscriptions such as cable TV and internet. It's a minor inconvenience when you visit home during the period, but the savings add up--and you may end up wondering if you need to pay for HBO when DVDs are free at the local (and college) library anyway.

That's enough useful advice for one day. Next time, we will aim for more docere et delectare (though we are not sure academics enjoy anything much more than saving money!).

Looks like I'm going to MLA after all, having played hooky since 2000. Do we all still wear black pajamas? . . . oops, flashback. Odd, considering I was not quite 15 when the war ended--but there it is.

If you are a 20th-century Americanist on the market, "Be seeing you!", as "The Prisoner" used to say--



"Rover" (the Prisoner's enigmatic white-balloon sentinel, above) will be stashed out of sight in the hotel suite bathroom. Don't make us use it.

If you have no idea what that is all about, herewith the opening credits to this great show, from Youtube. It has a certain level of applicability to MLA, IMHO.

The Virtual Keyboard:


It even makes (customizable) typing sounds as you pound on an empty surface . . . see Youtube clip for more.

This is possibly the coolest piece of furniture I have ever seen:
(It would probably be most effective if, when confronting your would-be assailant with this, you also screamed "This Is SPARTA!!!!!")

The Hollywood hacks referenced below should make a film of the life of Randy Pausch--but the farewell video lecture he has given, only a few months now before his inevitable death of cancer at age 46, is better than anything they would be likely to come up with.

• Chronicle article with video link
• abcnews.com story with video links

Rejoice, for we are not bound forever to the circles of this world, and beyond them is more than memory.       --Aragorn

Death is nothing more than a doorway, something you walk through.    --Dr. George Ritchie